Article 19, the freedom of expression defense organization, decried the cyber attack on three digital newspapers in Mexico that not only were temporarily forced offline, but also had personal information, contacts and reporters' notes stolen from the server, in the case of Expediente Quintana Roo.
The National Association of Journalists (CNP in Spanish) in Venezuela accused state media of spreading "hate" messages and urged authorities to take action to curb this practice with the same speed they normally investigate and punish private media, alluding to the recent complaint filed against opposition television station Globovisión, reported El Universal.
An internal investigation of the São Paulo civil police has determined, three years after the case started, that the arrest of Brazilian reporter Roberto Cabrini was a result of a police set-up, according to Folha de S. Paulo. The journalist, host of the program Conexão Repórter on television station SBT, was held for two days, accused of transporting 10 bags of cocaine in his car in April 2008.
Peruvian journalist Hans Francisco Andrade Chávez, ex-host of a news program on the local affiliate channel of América TV in Chepén, in northern Perú, was sentenced to two years in prison for defamation, according to the Press and Society Institute (IPYS in Spanish). Andrade is the most recent journalist in Peru to be convicted of libel. In April, journalist Paul Garay was sentenced to three years in jail for defamation of a prosecutor.
In his blog on the Luis Nassif website, Brazilian journalist Ricardo Gomez Filho claims he was fired from the São Paulo newspaper Folha Metropolitana on July 7 at the request of congressman Carlos Roberto de Campos of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB in Portuguese).
Journalist Emilio Palacio, in an effort to protect his newspaper from an $80 million libel suit by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correan, has resigned from his position as opinion editor at El Universo, Terra reports.
After a series of firings and journalists quitting because of complaints of censorship during the recent presidential campaign in Peru, the sudden cancellation of one of the most watched and credible journalistic programs in Peru has prompted a debate about freedom of expression and the impact of media monopolies on citizens' right to information.
First came an accusation against a journalist who refused to reveal his sources after publishing in the Brazilian newspaper Diário da Região information from phone calls secretly recorded as part of a judicial investigation in São José do Rio Preto. Now Brazilian federal police say they plan to go after the newspaper's editor, too, reported Folha de S. Paulo.
Associated Press employees have been warned to not share their opinions via social media, Poynter reports, lest they damage the reputation of the 165-year-old international news network.
The website for the Honduran newspaper El Libertador was attacked by hackers on June 28, reported IFEX. This is the second time the newspaper has been subject to digital sabotage since the 2009 Honduran coup, which El Libertador opposed.
The freeing of all Cuba's imprisoned dissident journalists in recent months generated expectations about a possible relaxation of strict censorship rules and zero tolerance for opposition under the more than 50 years of leadership by the Castro brothers in Cuba. However, freedom of expression organizations are denouncing a new wave of attacks on independent Cuban journalists, an indication that nothing in fact has changed and the regime of censorship is continuing, according to news reports.
Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of two Haitian journalists who were jailed June 22 by authorities for no apparent valid reason, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange reports.